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1 THE FUTURE OF THE MASTER S DEGREE: RESEARCH, PROFESSIONAL AND OTHER Douglas M Peers Dean and Associate Vice-President Graduate

2 York University 50 years young this year Canada s Third Largest University 45,890 Undergraduate students, (full- and part-time students) 4,796 Graduate students, (full- and part-time students) 3,236 International students from 150 countries, (including undergraduate and graduate students) Notable Strengths are in the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Fine Arts More than 100 master s and doctoral degrees offered by 56 program Second largest graduate school in Ontario Graduate programs are separate from departments and can draw faculty from across the university First and largest women s studies program in Canada Senate recently approved a policy allowing First Nation s students to submit theses and dissertations in their own language 2

3 Master s Degrees in Canadian Universities Outside Québec: Being Bologna before Bologna? The core of the Bologna Process is the three-cycle qualifications framework This is the model that has prevailed over much of Canada until recently postgraduate pre-doctoral study (though with the option of it being a terminal degree Moreover, until recently, master s degrees in much of Canada have been two years in length, and the theory underpinning them was very similar to that used to justify Bologna Situation is changing In general terms, baccalaureates are broadly similar and comprehensible across Canada and are comparable to those in the US Doctoral programs (excepting professional doctorates) are again very similar and comprehensible Masters programs are however quite different: nationally, continentally and internationally EUA has recognized the need for a shared and readable terminology for master s degrees 3

4 Historical Patterns For previous generations in much of Canada, the Master s degree was a two year degree First year consisted of courses Provided breadth anticipated the field preparation at the doctoral level Provided depth in methodology and theory Second year was for thesis preparation Objective usually was a piece of original scholarship +/- 125 pages In practice, many master s theses became mini-dissertations Most students were full-time, relatively young, and faculty tended to see themselves in this cohort (self reproduction of the academy) Overarching characteristic was that these were research degrees distinguishable from undergraduate degrees Provision for direct entry/promotion into PhD programs in the sciences had become common by the 1970s/80s 4

5 The Ontario Situation Ontario has the largest number of universities and the greatest number of students in Canada: 20 universities offering graduate programs (about 1/3 of the total) unique in Anglophone Canada in having a well-established autonomous and arm s length Quality Assurance Process Ontario Council of Graduate Studies (OCGS) graduate programs are not recognized until they have been approved by OCGS to commence subject to subsequent reviews on a seven year cycle arguably one of the most robust QA processes in the world downside is that it is expensive and labour intensive currently being revised as a consequence, graduate programs in Ontario tend to conform to one another more than is the case in other jurisdictions use of a common vocabulary 5

6 Transformation in Ontario last five years have seen radical transformations in Ontario Reaching Higher (2005) government initiative -- $220M increase graduate enrolments by 12,000 students in and 14,000 by response to double-cohort and to the knowledge economy underpinning assumptions were that there was wave of potential graduate students universities were invited to submit targets as this was the only new money on the horizon, universities responded enthusiastically proliferation of programs especially at the master s level traditional research degrees, professional programs, more interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary programs, shift towards more one-year course-based master s Master s thesis giving way to major research papers and aide memoire intensified competition for students targets only took into account domestic students pool of prospective students was not as large as had been assumed moreover, the government s preference was for master s students large universities like York wanted and found it easier to grow at the PhD level end result is that the characteristics of the master s degree have become more muddled 6

7 Western Canada There is not the same degree of integration, oversight and coordination across the four western provinces nothing like OCGS nor in any of these provinces has there been anything like the ambitious plans of Reaching Higher nevertheless there are considerable similarities in master s programs Persistence of two-year master s in many universities Typically one year of courses followed by a year of thesis yet times to completion often proved to be problematic Sometimes because it was an alternative to doctoral programs Times to completion are often stretched Often rationalized in terms of superior training for doctoral programs Also provided ways of securing tutorial assistants for universities coping with larger undergraduate classes hence there has not been the same incentives to move from two year to one year master s 7

8 Recent Trends: Professional Degrees Most obvious global shift has been the proliferation of professional master s degrees though less evident in Canada than in the US and Europe (except in business) eg. Relatively little talk of the professional science masters partly because of tradition partly because of funding formulas partly because of the sometimes paradoxical efforts to treat them simultaneously as terminal degrees and entry points into doctoral programs this in turn may reflect the need in some disciplines/faculties for future faculty members 8

9 Recent Trends: Professional Degrees Yet distinction between professional (applied) and more traditional degrees is not always clear in some of the newer programs e.g master s of education issues surrounding MBA programs and government investment in graduate education in the business area 9

10 Recent Trends: the One Year Master s covers a broad spectrum course-based (taught) master s course-based with research project portal to the PhD terminal degree professional and para-professional (applied) capstone to undergrad rationalizations vary moves students more quickly through the system more attractive to students less demanding of resources allows faculty to concentrate on doctoral students tensions here between pedagogy and fiscal reality 10

11 Recent Trends: Global Uncertainties what is perhaps most distinctive about master s programs is that they are the most market sensitive EUA s 2009 report observed that the master s is the most marketised of the three cycles often viewed, however, erroneously, as a revenue stream for cash-strapped universities often legitimated in terms of life long learning Creates opportunities but there are also pitfalls Stats Can report: Grad Studies are on the rise but the payoff in cash is small What about mobility will students choose to stay with their undergraduate institutions 11

12 Implications and Contradictions One-year master s versus two year master s will they be seen as equivalent? Concerns expressed in England that their one year master s will become less popular in the face of Bologna-style two-year degrees will we face the same choices if Bologna becomes the standard Mobility Popularity of two-year master s in Europe partly due to opportunities for student mobility (declining at the baccalaureate level) Blurring the boundary between undergraduate and graduate education perhaps the master s should be seen as the culmination of the baccalaureate rather than the beginning of the graduate Growing interest in the five year BA/BSc Master s European interest in this 12

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